Marco Bezzecchi
Gresini team manager Michele Masini expects Fermin Aldeguer will return from injury for round two of the 2026 MotoGP season in Brazil, pending him passing a fitness test.
Questions have lingered over when Aldeguer will make his first appearance this year, after a crash while training on a superbike at the Aspar Circuit in Valencia this January left him with a fractured femur. The 20-year-old underwent surgery for the injury in Barcelona in January.
Aldeguer has already been forced to miss the first pre-season test in Sepang, and it has also now been confirmed that he must sit out the test in Buriram and the Thai Grand Prix. Ducati test rider Michele Pirro will replace Aldeguer in the Thai GP to complete the Gresini line-up.
During Gresini’s 2026 bike launch event at the end of January, Aldeguer ruled himself out of the Thai GP as he is still at home recovering. But while the Spaniard identified the returning Brazilian Grand Prix as one desired date for his comeback, whether it is realistic was unclear.
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Aldeguer has yet to join up with Gresini in 2026, as he is still waiting for medical clearance to return from injury, but Masini notes that the Murcian is in constant contact with the team to prepare for the season. Gresini are also confident that Aldeguer will be fit to return in Brazil.
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The 2026 MotoGP season goes to Goiania for the second race of the year on March 20-22, for what will be the series’ first event in Brazil since 1992. Gresini are increasingly confident that Aldeguer will race in the Brazilian GP, as there is a three-week break after the Thai GP.
“I think we’re pretty sure he’ll be in Brazil,” Masini affirmed, via Motorsport.com. “He’s been working very hard to be ready for Buriram. But we have to assess the risk and the condition of the bone. So, we’ll wait for the doctors’ response.
“We’re in constant contact with him at every session. He’d like to know everything. He’s spoken with his chief mechanic, Frankie Carchedi, who’s here to follow the progress.
“We miss Fermin a lot, but we’re also continuing to work for him because we’d like to be ready when he gets back on a bike.”
Michele Pirro will replace the injury-stricken Fermin Aldeguer at the Thai Grand Prix
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Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi had backed Aldeguer to make his return from injury at the Thai GP, as he believed it would be “realistic” for the Murcian to hop on his Desmosedici GP25 after what would be a 50-day timeline. But Gresini will instead rely on Pirro to step in.
Gresini will now hope the three-week gap between the season-opening Thai GP on March 1 and the Brazilian GP on March 22 is long enough that Aldeguer can recover enough from his injury. If the Spaniard is not fit to race in Brazil, his involvement in America will be uncertain.
MotoGP travels north through the Americas from Brazil to Austin, Texas for round three with the Americas Grand Prix on March 29. So, if Aldeguer is not ready to return in Brazil, racing in America would be unlikely and likely delay his return to the Qatar Grand Prix on April 12.
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